CA1330426C - Method for producing a heterologous protein in insect cells - Google Patents

Abstract

METHOD FOR PRODUCING A HETEROLOGOUS PROTEIN IN INSECT CELLS
Abstract of the Invention A mixed composition polyhedral inclusion body (PIB) is provided which contains a mixture of nucleocapsids of at least two genetically distinct baculoviruses. At least one of the baculoviruses is genetically engineered to contain at least one heterologous gene. Followed ingestion of the mixed composition PIB by an insect host, a mixed viral infection ensues in the insect permitting the production therein of additional copies of the mixed composition PIB
and the production of a heterologous protein encoded by the heterologous gene present in at least one of the baculoviruses.

Description

1 ~30426 METHOD FOR PRODUCING A HETEROLOGOUS
PROTEIN IN INSECT CELLS

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an improved method for producing heterologous proteins in insect cells, specifi-cally in whole insect hosts.
Recent advances in the genetic engineering of baculo-viruses have made possible the production of heterologous proteins in insect host cells grown in 1n vitro culture.
One strategy which has achieved a certain measure of success involves (1) preparing a recombinant baculovirus which contains a DNA sequence encoding the heterologous protein operatively linked to the baculovirus polyhedrin promoter; (2) infecting cultured insect host cells with the recombinant virus; (3) growing the infected insect cells 1 ~
under suitable conditions for viral replication and protein expression and (4) recovering the desired heterologous protein thereby expres~ed from the insect cells or culture medium. See, e.g. Miller et al. 1986, infra. Relatively igh levels of expression o~ the desired protein can be obtained by the a~orementioned strategy, in part because the polyhedrin promoter is such a strong promoter.
In considering the biology of this approach it should be kept in mind that baculoviruses are typically packaged in two ~orms: nucleocapsids may be occluded in the nucleus o~ in~ected cells in particles known as "polyhedral inclusion bodies" (PIBs) of which the predominant structural p~otein is polyhedrin or they may bud through the membrane of the infected cell thereby acquiring a membrane envelope to form non-occluded virus (NOV) particles. As a result o~ the usual deletion of all or part of the polyhedrin structural gene, or insertion of the ` ' '- ~ i~' - ` ~' ' ' 1 ; ' ' ; ! ' : . : ~ ~;

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heterologous gene within the polyhedrin gene locus involved in using the virus as an expression vector, the recombinant baculovirus used in the aforementioned approach is no longer capable of directing the synthesis of functional polyhedrin in infected cells. Horizontal transmission of the viral infection at the organismal level, i.e. from insect to insect, does not generally occur in the absence of the PIB form of the virus which cannot be produced without its principal structural protein, polyhedrin.
Thus, infection with the recombinant virus results in the production of non-occluded viral progeny (NOVs) capable of spreading the infection from cell to cell within an infected insect or cell culture, but not from insect to insect.
Therefore, while the above-described recombinant baculovirus may be used to produce a heterologous protein in cultured insect cells or in a suitably inoculated individual insect host, production of the protein in whole insects in commercially significant amounts and/or horizontal transmission of the recombinant baculovirus would require the inoculation of a huge number of individual insects. Such extraordinary requirements of manpower, time and expense render such methods impracticable.
A new mixed viral system has now been discovered which permits ~or the first time the practical production of biologically and/or commercially significant amounts of a heterologous protein in whole insects and horizontal transmission of recombinant baculoviiuses using a recombinant baculovirus which is itself defective with respect to polyhedrin production. This invention provides unexpected advantages with regard to controllable persistence of the viral system which permits a balance between efficacy and biosafety concerns.

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DETAILED DBSCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a polyhedral inclusion body (PIB) containing a mixture of nucleocapsids of at least two genetically distinct baculoviruses. This mixed composition PIB (mPIB) contains nucleocapsids of at least one "recombinant" baculovirus which is incapable of directing the production of polyhedrin in infected insect cells (phenotypically, "PIB-"), and nucleocapsids of at least one baculovirus which may be a wild-type, mutant or genetically modified virus, but must in any case, be capable of directing the production of polyhedrin in infected cells (phenotypically, "PIB+"). A "recombinant"
baculovirus as the term is used herein means a baculovirus which lacks a functional polyhedrin gene and which contains at least one heterologous ("lnsert") gene (pheotypically, "PIB~,insert+"?. A "heterologous gene"j as the phrase is used herein, means a gene not normally present in the baculovirus, or if normally present, present at a different locus in the wild-type baculovirus genome or under the transcrlptional control of a different promoter or both, relat1ve to the recombinant baculovirus. A "functional polyhedrin gene", as the term is used herein, means a gene encoding a polyhedrin protein capable of forming a PIB.
The biology and life cycle of numerous nuclear polyhedrosis viruses and corresponding insect and host cells are known in the art. Furthermore, a variety of transplacement vectors and methods of using such vectors to pro~uce~
recombinant baauloviruses are now known in the~art. See e.g. Pennock et al. and Miller et al., infra.
This invention also encompasses mPIBs containing a recombinant nucleocapsid which conta~ns more than one heterologous gene and thus is capable of directing the expression of more than one heterologous protein in infected insect cells. The invention furthar encompasses ~ ~""",:, ' '~ .' '. ~ "' ' ~"'. '"~ ~,.'" ;`-":";" '"':"-mPIBs containing three or more genetically distinct nucleocapsids. In such embodiments the mPI~ may contain two or more different recombinant nucleocapsids, e.g. where each different recombinant virus is capable of directing the expression of one or more different proteins.
Furthermore, an mPIB may contain nucleocapsids of two or more different baculoviral species.
Ingestion by an insect host of the mPIBs containing nucleocapsids of a PIB-, insert+ baculovirus and nucleocapsids of a PIB+ baculovirus in accordance with this invention results in a mixed viral infection in the insect such that both baculoviruses replicate in the infected cells. During the course of replication (a) the recombinant (PIB-, insert+) baculovirus and progeny thereof direct the expression of the heterologous gene (the "insert"), producing the protein encoded thereby; and (b) the PlB+ baculovirus produces polyhedrin. This results in a high frequency of the progeny nucleocapsids being occluded in PIBs, thereby producing additional copies of the mPIB. The heterologous protein so produced may then be recovered from the insect and if desired may be further purl~ied. Any heterologous protein for which a corresponding nucleotide sequence can be obtained may thus be produced in whole insects. Such proteins include therapeutic proteins useful in medical or ve*erinary applications, vaccines, functional enzymes, and proteins which are toxic to at least one insect species. In the latter case, compositions containing the mPIB may be used as biological insecticides against the insect or insects which are suitable hosts for the virus and to which the heterologous protein is toxic.
In one aspect of the invention, the mPIB contains a mixture of nucleocapsids of two genetically distinct baculoviruses, as follows. The first baculovirus contains a gene encoding polyhedrin operatively linked to an expression control sequence permitting the baculovirus to , ~ ~ n ~ ~ ~

1 330~26 direct the production of polyhedrin in the infected cell.
Thus, the first baculov-irus may be characterized phenotypically as PIB+. The PIB~ baculovirus may be a wild-type strain of a nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV), e.g. AcNPV, BmNPV, RoNPV, OpNPV, DwNPV, TnNPV, SlNPV, SfNPV, LdNPV, HzNPV, HvNPV, etc. or may be a deletion or insertion variant thereof, so long as it is capable of (i) replicating (e.g., contains the "ais" genetic functions required for replication), (ii) being packaged in the mPIB
and (iii) directing the production of functional polyhedrin in infected insect cells. The second baculovirus lacks a functional polyhedrin gene, e.g. because of an alteration such as a deletion, substitution or insertion within the polyhedrin gene locus, whether within the coding and/or regulatory region thereof. The second baculovirus does however contain the previously mentioned heterologous gene operatively linked 'o an expression control sequence permitting the baculovirus to direct the production in an in~ected insect cell of the heterologous protèin encoded by the heterologous gene. The second baculovirus is charac-terized as PIB-, insert+. It is generally preferred that the host or target insect be permissive, or at least partially permissive, to each of the viruses within the mPIB.
In one presently preferred embodiment the heterologous gene is inserted into the polyhedrin gene region of the second baculovirus such that the heterologous gene is under the transcriptional control of the polyhedrin promoter.
Alternatively, the heterologous gene may be inserted into the baculovirus qenome within the polyhedrin gene region, but operatively linked to a promoter other than the poly-hedrin promoter, e.g. to the RSV-LTR, TED-LTR or to a baculovirus promoter other than the polyhedrin promoter, so long as the promoter is functional in infected insect cells. Similarly, the heterologous gene may be inserted at a site other than the polyhedrin gene locus, so long as the , ~:

resultant recombinant baculovirus is capable of replicating, expressing the heterologous gene and being packaged in the mPIB, but incapable alone of forming PIBs.
mPIBs of this invention have been produced by simulta-neously contacting NOVs of each of the baculoviruses to be packaged in the mPIBs (i.e. a PIB+ virus and a PIB-, insert+ virus) with insect host cells growing in vitro.
Alternatively, the contacting may be effected by injecting the input viruses into whole insects. The contacting æhould be under conditions permitting baculoviral infection of the host or host cells. The viruses used for the co-infection are hereinafter referred to generally as the "input" viruses. The insect host cells are cultured using conventional methods known in the art, e.g. in suspension culture in spinner flasks or fermentation vessels or ;~attached to the container surface in tissue culture flasks or dishes. The various procedures employed to culture the insects and insect cells, infect with baculoviruses, permit viral replication, screen and harvest the viral progeny are procedures known in the art, e.g. essentially as described in ~iller et al., Genetic Engineering, Vol. 8, pages 277-298, J.K. Setlow and A. Hollaender, eds. (Plenum Press, 1986). The total amount of virus added and the ratio of PIB+ (e.g. wild type) to PIB-, insert+ (altered) virus used in this initial infection can vary depending on the desired composition of the product mPIBs. Typically, the ratio is -from about 1:1 to about 10:1, altered:wild type, although other ratios may be used for particular applications.
; NumeFous baculovirall strains and variants and corres-ponding permissive insect hosts have been identified. A
i ~variety of such strains are pubIicly available, e.g. the L-l variant of Autoq~apha californica NPV and the Bm-5 strain of Bombyx ~E~ NPV, and may be used as the PIB+
virus in the mPIBs of this invention. The insert+ PIB-baculovirus may be obtained using any of several transplacement vectors and methods known in the art, see e.g. European published application No. 0 155 416;
G.D. Pennock et al., 1984 Mol. Cell. Biol. 4(3):399-406, S. Maeda et al., 1985, Nature 315:592-594. One such transplacement vector, pIVEV, useful for inserting a passenger cDNA into the polyhedrin locus of the genome of the baculovirus Autographa californica has been deposited with the American Typè Culture Collection and is available under accession number ATCC No. 39991.
In an exemplary experiment, S~odoPtera frugiperda (Sf) cells growing in suspension culture in a spinner flask were inoculated with both wild type and recombinant input baculoviruses. The wild type virus was the L-l variant of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus A. californica . The recom-binant virus was a genotypically engineered AcNPV L-l variant which contains in place of a functional polyhedrin gene, a cDNA encoding human tissue-type plasminogen ~ activator (tPA). The recombinant baculovirus has been 3 designated 3h8, and has been deposited with the American 9~ Type Culture Collect$on (ATCC) as ATCC No. VR2096. This virus may be characterized phenotypically as PIB-, t-PA+.
- The coinfection of the Sf cells was conducted at wild-type:recombinant ratios of 1:1 and 1:10, i.e. at a multiplicity of infection of 1 or 10 for either virus, depending on the ratio of the two types.
This infection led to the production of NOVs of each type of input virus. It also led to the production of mPIBs which contain nucleocapsids of both input viruses.
! ~ These results were demonstrated as follows. To analyze the type of NOV present, the dell supernatant containing thè
progeny NOVs was plaqued onto a monolayer of Sf cells and the phenotype of the resulting plaques scored. Plaques that contain PIBs were produced by wild type virus and those that lack PIBs by the recombinant tPA-containing virus. To determine the composition of the mPIBs, the ;1 ~ mPIBs were first isolated from other material present in 3- i ~ the cell culture. This was effected by centrifugation of ~ ~:

the spinner flask contents to separate the large material, such as PIBs, from the ~maller material, such as NOVs. The PIB-containing pellet was then washed several times with an SDS-containing solution to lyse and remove cellular debris contaminating the PIB pellet. The PIBs withstand this treatment and are isolated substantially free from cellular debris. The PIBs are suitable for the production of viral DNA, as follows. The PIB pellet is resuspended in sodium carbonate. This treatment causes the PIB to dissolve, releasing the embedded virus nucleocapsids into the solution. The nucleocapsids are recovered and concen-trated by ultracentrifugation. The capsid pellet was resuspended in an SDS, tris, and EDTA solution, and pro-teinase K was added. The solution was incubated at 37 D C.
This treatment freed the viral DNA from the capsids. The DN~ was further purified by conventional phenol extraction and ethanol precipitation.
Genotypic analysis of the purified DNA was effected by first sub~ecting the purified DNA to conventional restriction endonuclease (REN) digestion. The REN-digested DNA was electrophoretically separated on an agarose gel, and the separated DNA was transferred to a membrane filter according to the method of Southern (Maniatis et al., Molecular Clonina - A ~aboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 1982). It is at present most convenient to ,.~ .
b}ot the gel bi-directionally. In this manner, the two ~ilter replicas of the gel can be probed with one or the other of sequences diagnostic for either of the viral genomes~. This method reveals the genotypic nature of! the virus particles contained within the mPIBs, i.e., the presence or absence of a polyhedrin gene and the exogeneous DNA insert.
Thu~, by the methods described above baculoviral mPIBs may be produced which are capable upon ingestion by a suitable insect host of producing a mixed viral infection in the host resulting in the production of progeny NOVs, progeny mPIBs and a heterologous protein in the infected insect. Baculoviral mPIBs are preferably designed and produced by the above-described methods such that the desired insect host is capable of being infected by the particular baculoviruses used and of supporting viral replication thereof. As previously mentioned numerous baculoviruses and corresponding permissive host insects are known in the art.
While mPIBs may be used for large scale production in whole insects of therapeutic proteins, immunogens for vaccines, enzymes and other useful proteins, this invention is especially well suited for the biological control of insect pests. As in other embodiments the bioinsecticidal mPIB contains PIB+ and PIB-, insert+ baculoviruses which are infectious in the target (host) insect. As mentioned previously, the PIB-, insert+ baculovirus of bioinsecticidal mPIBs contain DNA (the insert) encoding a protein which is toxic to the target insect. The toxin may be lethal, j~ paralytic or otherwise deleterious to the target insect.
I Such toxins may be recovered and purified from plants or from natural parasites or predators of the target or related insects. Natural parasites and predators of d insects include bacter~a, viruses, fungi and other ¦ insects. Candidate toxins may be screened for toxicity in the target insect and then cloned by conventional methods.
j~ Exemplary toxins include the toxic proteins from many Bacillus thuringiensis strains. Also suitable are toxins isolated from Hymenoptera, scorpions and spiders.
Additionally, the toxin may~be an enzyme known to enhance susceptibility to infection or which is itself deleterious to the target insect, e.g., chitinase. In such cases the ~; mPIB may contain a transcription unit for such toxin, alone or together with a transcription unit for a second toxin.
This invention furthe.r encompasses compositions ;~ containing bioinsecticidal mPIBs, as described above, in ~ - admixture wlth agriculturally acceptable excipients i :~ ~

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including vehicles, carriers, binders, UV blockers, adhesives, hum~ctants, insect attractants, etc. as are known in the art. Such compositions may be applied dry or in the form of a suspension, emulsion or foam to typical feeding areas of the target insect, including to vegetation, fruit, seed, soil or aquatic locales. These compositions may also include conventional insecticidal agents and/or may be applied in conjunction with conventional insecticidal agents.
One advantage of the mPIBs of this invention is their limited effective persistance upon serial passage through insect hosts. More specifically, in the course of the research resulting in this invention, the composition of mPIBs has been observed to change from generation to generation upon serial passage within the insscts, with the ratio of PIB+ to PIB-, insert+ consistently increasing in subsequent progeny. Thus, where the PIB+ baculovirus is a wild type virus, successive generations of mPIBs contain less and less recombinant (PIB-, insert+) virus, until eventual reversion to only wild type PIB is complete. The number of generations until 108s of the PIB-, insert+
genotype can be conveniently modified by adjusting the ratio of input NOVs used to coinfect cultured cells to produce the mPIBs and/or by adjusting the number of mPIBs ed to the whole insects. The greater the proportion of PIB-, insert+ input NOVs to PIB+ input NOVs and/or the higher the number o~ mPIBs fed to the insects, the longer may be the effective duration (in terms of successive gener~tions) of the PIB-, insert+ genotype of the mPIBs.
The gradual loss of recombinant phenotype is advantageous sinca it limits any potential risk resulting from accidental or deliberate release of mPIBs into the environment. It was not expected that persistence would be as long as observed, indeed long enough for an efffective bioinsecticide, nor that the duration of persistence would be conveniently controllable, permitting a balance between :
-1 330~26 efficacy and biosafety.
Another advantage of this invention is the potentialfor altering or circumventing the host range of a particular baculovirus. For example, a recombinant virus engineered to contain a heterologous gene may not be able to replicate or to replicate fully in a particular host because of naturally occuring host range limitations.
Consequently, the heterologous gene would not have an opportunity to be replicated to higher copy number, or the viral progeny may not be properly occluded in PIBs. Such limitations on host range will on many occasions be due to a defect in the ability of the non- or only partially-susceptible host to support a complete virus replication cycle.
One solution to this problem is to make use through the mixed PIB methodology of a non-engineered baculovirus that can replicate in the desired host/target species:
NOVs of the virus that is replication proficient in the host/target are used to infect a cell line in which they are also replication proficient. The cell line is simultaneously coinfected with the engineered virus by the method already described. It is contemplated that the competent virus will provide the functions required by the incompetent virus (through complementation), and consequently both viruses will replicate. The engineered virus~~wl-}l be packaged in PIBs formed by the wild type virus.
This will allow the resulting mPIBs to be used as a means to deliver the genetically engineered virus to the host/
target ~lnsect. In this situation the mPIBs would dissolve in the midgut of the insect and cells will simultaneously be infected with both viruses. Again the complementation phenomenon should allow replication of the engineered virus and expression of the heterologous gene in the host/target insect. Should there not exist a cell line in which the non-engineered virus can replicate, this procedure can be carried out in live insects. In that case, the insects l ~

1 3304 ~6 would be injected with NOVs of the two virus types. The resulting PIBs will be of mixed composition.
The following examples are provided to further illus-trate the invention and are not intended to, nor should they be construed to limit the scope of the invention as defined by the claims which follow thereafter.

EXAMPLES

Example 1: Production and use of mPIB:3h8/L-l (a) The two viruses used in preparing mPI~:3h8/L-l were as follows:

PIB+ baculovirus: L-l variant of AcNPV
The L-l variant of Autographa californica nuclear poly-hedrosis virus (AcNPV) produces typical NPV plaques of high refractility under the light microscope owing to the production of PIBs in infected cells. Other polyhedrin-producing variants of AcNPV or other NPVs may also be used.

PIB- insert+baculovirus: 3h8 The recombinant NPV, 3h8, may be obtalned from the American Type Culture Collection, Rockville, ND under accession number ATCC No. VR2096. 3h8 is a recombinant variant of AcNPV in which the majority of the polyhedrin structural gene has been deleted and replaced with a cDNA encoding human ti6sue plasminogen activator (t-PA) under the transcriptional control of the AcNPV polyhedrin promoter.
3h8 cannot diredt thie production of polyhedrin or PIBs and consequently produces viral plaques that are not refractile.

(b) R-striction Endonuclease (REN) Analysis of vlral DNA

The L-l variant and the recombinant, 3h8, may be distin-guished by their distinct plaque morphologies and by their REN patterns as analyzed electrophoretically on agarose gels. A convenient method to make this latter distinction ; is to conduct a conventional Southern blot of the REN
digested DNA. EcoRI is well suited for this analysis, and the approximately 7.5 kb AcNPV REN fragment referred to to as the EcoRI I fragment is an appropriate probe. The wild type L-l variant is seen to contain the intact, single EcoRI I fragment. The recombinant virus, 3h8, yields two inserted fragments of 4.5kb and 3.5kb since the inserted t-PA gene contains more than one EcoRI site. A mixture of these two viruses, L-l and 3h8, will yield all three bands upon analysis of the DNA fragments produced with EcoRI.
The relative autoradiographic intensity of the three bands is indicative of the ratio of the recombinant virus to the wild type virus.

~c) Production and analysis of the mPIBs ~; To produce the mixed composition PIBs, a spinner flask of S~odoptera fruqiperda cells is infected by conventional methods, but with both the wild type L-l and the recombinant 3h8 virus NOVs and at relatively high multiplicities of infection. Both viruses establish an infection in any one cell. At the late stage of the infection cycle when polyhedrin is ordinarily produced, the recombinant 3h8 virus directs the expression of the foreign gene that it aontains (t-PA) and the wiId type directs the expression of polyhedrin protein and the production of PIBs. As the PIBs condense from the polyhedrin protein and ; occlude the wild type virus, they simultaneously occlude the recombinant 3h8 virUs. The ratio of input wild type L-l to recombinant 3h8 NOVs can be varied so as to affect `~ the ratio of the two virus types in the progeny PIBs.
`~ This process can be experimentally demonstrated, as ~?~ follows. At the end of the infection cycle the progeny 3 ~ NOVs, present in the supernatant of the spinner flask, are 'i~

characterized by plaqueing them on new cells. The increase in titre obtained demonstrates that the virus is growing.
The ratio of PIB+ to PIB- progeny virus in the plaque assay reflects the ratio of the input virus.
The composition of the progeny PIBs in the infected cells can be determined by analyzing the genome structure of the virus particles contained within the progeny PIBs.
These PIBs are collected by centrifugation of the infected aells and subsequent purification of the PIBs contained within. The virus nucleocapsids contained within the PIBs are freed by alkali dissolution. The viral DNA is purified and digested with EcoRI, and the restriction fragments 60 produced are separated by agarose gel electrophoresis.
Southern blotting of the gel and probing of the blot with the viral EcoRI I fragment by conventional methods revealed the presence of both viral genomes. The intensity of the bands reveals their relative abundance.

Example 2: Horizontal Transmission of Mixed Viral Infection ~:: ~
mPIB:3h8/L-1 was produced by the method of Example 1 at two dif~erent L-1:3h8 moi ratios, i.e., 1:1 and 1:10. At tha end of the infection cycle the mPIBs were harvested, and the harvested mPIBs fed to Heliothis Yirescens oaterpillars. Feeding was effected by spreading the mPIBs onto the surface of the artificial diet on which the ~caterpillars were raised. Typically 105-106 mPIBs/cater-pillar were placed on the food source. Within 5 days the caterpillars usually died from virus infection. The dead or nearly dead caterpillars were collected and homogenized ; in a cell culture medium, TC-100, àdjusted to be 5mM in cysteine, (approximately 5 caterpillars/5ml mediu~). The homogenate was centrifuged at 10,000 xg to pellet the PIB-containing debris. The ~upernatant, which contains :3 15 3 NOVs, was filtered through a 0.45 micron filter to remove 3 microbial contamination and then plaqued onto fresh I Spodoptera fruqi~erda cells. After approximately five days i the plaques were developed sufficiently that their ~3 morphology (PIB+ v~ PIB-, insert+) could be ascertained and i the L-1:3h8 ratio determined.
To purify the PIBs, the 10,000 xg pellet was resuspended in 20 ml 0.1% SDS, homogenized, and filtered through two layers of cheesecloth. ~he filtrate was centrifuged at 6000 x g for 10 minutes, and the pellet resuspended in 0.1% SDS. The centrifugation was repeated, .:i3 and the pellet resuspended in water. This suspension was "13 centrifuged again, and the pellet again resuspended in water to produce a PIB suspension. Analysis of the nucleocapsid contents of the PIBs so produced (by the : ~ methods describ~ed previously for mPIBs produced in cell culture) showed that these progeny PIBæ contained bcth ~ input nucleocapsids. The ratio of wild type to 3h8 viruB ~
s ~ however, had increased relative to the original input ratio. Subsequent progeny mPIBs produced by serial passage through caterpillars were also found to contain both types of nucleocapsids, but again, with a gradually increasing ~:3 ~ ratio o~ vild type to 3h8 virus.
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Claims (19)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A mixed composition polyhedral inclusion body (PIB) containing a mixture of nucleocapsids of at least two genetically distinct nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs), at least one of which NPVs lacks a functional polyhedrin gene and is genetically engineered to contain at least one heterologous gene and at least one other of which NPVs contains and is capable of expressing a polyhedrin gene, said mixed composition PIB following ingestion thereof by an insect host effects a mixed viral infection in the insect permitting the production in the infected insect of additional copies of the mixed composition PIB and the production of a heterologous protein encoded for by the heterologous gene present in at least one of the NPVs.

2. A PIB of claim 1 wherein the NPVs comprise:
a) a first NPV containing a gene encoding polyhedrin operatively linked to an expression control sequence permitting the NPV to direct the production of polyhedrin in infected cells, and b) a second NPV incapable alone of directing the production of PIBs but containing a heterologous gene operatively linked to an expression control sequence permitting the NPV to direct the production in an infected cell of the heterologous protein encoded for by the heterologous gene.

3. A PIB of claim 2, wherein the first NPV is a wild-type nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV).

4. A PIB of claim 2, wherein the second NPV contains a heterologous gene inserted at the polyhedrin gene locus and operatively linked to an expression control sequence.

S. A PIB of claim 4, wherein the expression control sequences comprise the polyhedrin promoter.

6. A PIB of claim 2, wherein the second NPV contains a deletion of at least part of the polyhedrin gene.

7. A PIB of claim 2, wherein the heterologous gene encodes an enzyme or therapeutic protein.

8. A PIB of claim 1, wherein the heterologous protein is toxic to one or more insect species.

9. A method for producing PIBs of claim 1 which comprises infecting a cell culture of NPV-permissive cells with the non-occluded form of the genetically distinct NPVs and culturing the infected cells under conditions permitting viral replication and PIB production.

10. A method of claim 9 which further comprises recovering the PIBs so produced from the infected insect cell culture.

11. A method for producing PIBs of claim 1 which comprises infecting an insect with the non-occluded form of the genetically distinct NPVs under conditions permitting viral replication and PIB production in cells of the infected insect.

12. A method of claim 11 which further comprises recovering the PIBs so produced from the infected insect.

13. A method for coinfecting an insect host with a first nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) capable of directing the production of polyhedrin in infected cells and with a second NPV
lacking a functional polyhedrin-encoding gene but containing a heterologous gene encoding a heterologous protein, the method comprising allowing the insect host to ingest the PIBs of claim 1 permitting the production of a mixed viral infection in the insect host.

14. A method for producing a PIB useful in the production of a heterologous protein which comprises coinfecting an insect host by the method of claim 13, growing the insect and permitting viral replication and PIB production.

15. A method of claim 14 which further comprises recovering PIB6 60 produced from the infected insect.

16. A method for producing a heterologous protein in an insect which comprises coinfecting the insect by the method of claim 13, growing the insect, and permitting viral replication and the production of the heterologous protein encoded for by the heterologous gene present in one of the NPVs.

17. A method of claim 16 which further comprises recovering the heterologous protein from the insect in which it is produced.

18. A method of claim 17 which further comprises purifying the heterologous proteins so recovered.

19. A method of claim 16, wherein the heterologous proteins is a therapeutic protein or enzyme.